Harry Potter and the Darkness of Life
by Laen
Summary: Abandoned.
1. Harry's Escape

**Title: **Harry Potter and the Darkness of Life

**Chapter: **(1) Harry's Escape

**Author: **Laen

**Summary:** After Sirius' death, Harry's completely lost his will to live, so he decides to make an attempt to escape the Wizarding world. What happens when he becomes friends with a muggle, and travels to China? Will Hogwarts ever be the same after Harry comes back? Read to find out!

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter isn't mine! Neither is Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and definitely the country China! But '_Christine Parkers_' is my own character. Don't sue!  

**Rated:** At this moment? Probably PG, but later on in the chapter, it might change to PG13 or maybe even 14A, depending on how grim the 'murders' and 'deaths' of the death eaters are... *cough, cough*. 

*****

Harry never thought that his life could get any worse. He _always_ thought that losing his parents was the worse thing that could happen to him, always thought that life with the Dursleys was the worse part of his life. But now he knows… he _was_ wrong.

            It was one thing, losing you parents when you were just a baby, and another thing, watching your god-father murdered right in front of your eyes when you're fifteen years old.

His will to live, had slipped through his mere fingers the moment he stepped off platform nine and three quarters. He had lost him... Sirius Black. His god-father. The only person who Harry thought he could talk to, no matter what. And now he's dead... killed by his own cousin.

Pain surged through Harry as he thought back to the night it had happened... it was his fault that it had happened in the first place. His fault that Sirius was dead. He shouldn't have blamed it on Professor Dumbledore. The headmaster had nothing to do with it. It was all his fault...

All his fault.

*****

"Professor!" a voice rang out as the door to the headmaster's office exploded opened.

"Yes, Severus?" the headmaster's calm voice asked as the potions master looked straight into the twinkling eyes of the greatest wizard alive.

"It's Potter—he's gone missing."

*****

She watched as the young boy stumbled across the street, trying to avoid the cars that were speeding by tiredly. He had raven hair, green emerald eyes, and a strange lightning shaped scar on his forehead. He looked like he was about to collapse any moment, so she ran forward to help him. Just in time too... he fainted just as she reached him.

*****

"What do you mean Harry's gone missing?" George Weasley asked in shock as Dumbledore looked down sadly.

"Who was the git that was supposed to watch him when he disappeared?" Fred shouted as Severus Snape, the Hogwarts Potions Master, threw him a dirty look.

"It was me—Weasley. Say what you want to, but I don't care." Snape sneered as Fred approached him, raised his fist, and punched the professor across the left cheek. Hard.

The adults watched as the potions master fell to the ground, but none spoke. No one even intercepted the young Weasley's attack. They just stood there, watching, emotionless.

"How could you let him go missing you idiot?" Fred shouted as George walked up to him and placed his hand onto his brother's shoulder.

"Calm down Fred... you wouldn't want to dirty your hands by punching this death eater—let's go." George said coldly as he turned around to leave, ignoring all gasped and angry looks from his siblings, former teachers, and companions.

"George Weasley—you come back here right now and apologize!" Molly Weasley shouted at her son as he stopped in his footsteps and turned to face her.

"Over my dead body. If it wasn't for Harry, Fred and I wouldn't be where we are right now. He's the reason we have a future." George whispered darkly as his head snapped over to the direction of Professor Snape.

"If that asshole hadn't—"

"George Weasley!" Molly screamed angrily, cutting into her son's sentence, but the Weasley twins didn't bother to stay and listen to the lecture, for they both turned around, and walked out of the living room of the burrow silently.

"Severus—I'm sorry for their behaviour, they're really not thinking!" Mrs. Weasley apologized as Snape shook his head.

"It's ok." The potions master muttered as he raised his hand to feel the injured cheek that was beginning to swell up.

"You deserved it." A voice whispered as all eyes turned towards the direction of the speaker.

"Just because we're no longer in school, doesn't mean you can disrespect me Ms. Granger." Snape said as Hermione glared at him.

"Sod off." She snapped as she too, turned and left the room along with Ron and Ginny.

The silence was now so thick; a knife would've been able to cut it in half. Finally, Remus Lupin spoke.

"What if Voldemort's got him?" the werewolf whispered as everyone looked down sadly, not wanting to think about the thought of Harry being captured by the dark lord.

"Should we tell Fudge—get the ministry to search for him?" Tonks asked as Dumbledore shook his head.

"If Fudge ever got word about this, he'd let the world know about it... then everything would be chaotic, Voldemort may even begin attacking—knowing that Harry won't be there to prevent him." Dumbledore stated with a sigh. 

"You make it sound like Potter's the only one who can defeat him Professor." Snape muttered curiously as Dumbledore nodded his head, causing everyone to gasp again in shock.

"It's true—Harry is the only one who can defeat Voldemort. No one else can."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Moody asked as the headmaster sighed again.

"I don't know... I really don't know." Dumbledore replied as everyone's face darkened.

*****

Hunger overcame him as he woke up, his first reaction was to jump to his feet, pull out his wand and look around his surroundings quickly.

He was now in a small room; the room had a square table, two chairs around it, and the bed that he was lying asleep in minutes ago.

Quickly checking his robes to make sure that his money was there, Harry sighed. He hadn't been robbed.

"You're finally awake—I was getting worried there for a second." A voice said from the exit of the room.

Harry turned his head towards the direction, and pointed his wand at the speaker without any second thoughts.

"What are you doing with that stick? I haven't been able to wrench it out of your hands for the last few hours. Are you hungry? I've got some pizza in the kitchen if you want to eat it." the teen said as Harry slowly lowered his wand.

"Who're you?" he asked as the muggle smiled. He saw that she was around his height, probably eighteen, if not nineteen.

"My name's Christine. Christine Parkers." She replied as Harry slowly nodded.

"How'd I get here?" Harry continued to ask as the girl continued to smile.

"I found you in downtown London—you fainted." Christine explained as Harry nodded.

"What were you doing downtown by yourself at a time like that? You could've been killed—not to mention running across the street while cars were zooming by—"

"Are you from around here?" Harry asked as the girl shook her head.

"I'm from America. Just graduated this year." Christine replied.

"Where am I?" Harry questioned as the teenage girl chuckled.

"What is this, twenty questions?" she asked as Harry looked at her in a confused expression.

"Never mind..." Christine muttered under her breath before speaking up, "You're at a cheap motel in London, I'm going to be staying here for the three days or so before travelling down to China to spend the rest of my summer—"

"I know this may sound crazy, but can I come with you? I need to get out of here!" Harry cut in as the teenage girl stared at him in shock.

"Why? What are you, an escaped convict?" she asked as Harry shook his head.

"I'm just a fifteen year old kid who's trying to get a new life—"

"Go home kid—your parents are going to be worried sick about you." The eighteen year old muttered as Harry looked down with a pained expression.

"My parents died when I was only a few months old—I've been staying with my abusive aunt and uncle since then." Harry whispered as he blinded back the tears.

"What? But—I don't even know your name!" Christine said as Harry looked up at her.

"Are you saying if I tell you my name, I can come with you to China?" Harry asked as the girl frowned slightly.

"I'd be able to pay everything myself! I've got the money!" Harry said as he pulled out a couple rolls of muggle pounds out of his pocket.

"Holy shit! That's the most money I've ever seen in my life!" Christine gasped in shock as Harry stared at her, his eyes full of hope.

"Please, I'm begging you—I need to get out of here. I need a new life." Harry whispered.

"What's your name?" Christine asked at last.

"James. James Potter." Harry said, replying with his middle name.

"Okay James, care to tell me where in the world you got so much money? What'd you do rob a bank? Oh God, please tell me you didn't!" Christine begged as Harry shook his head.

"I inherited the money from my parents—this isn't even one-fiftieth of the entire sum." Harry said as Christine stared at him in shock.

"I don't believe what you're saying. Let me see what's in your backpack—check if you've got any weapons—you do have your passport right?" Christine asked as Harry nodded.

After pocketing his wand, Harry walked over to his backpack, which was lying on the table, and opened it. Inside, was the photo album that Hagrid had given to him back in his first year, the mirror Sirius had given to him, his father's invisibility cloak, and his passport.

Harry handed his passport to Christine, who looked at it slowly.

"You said your name was James Potter. But it says Harry James Potter here." She said as she pointed at the passport.

"I go by James." Harry lied as Christine nodded her head and handed the passport back to him.

"I trust you—but James, don't you think your aunt and uncle will be worried about you? And why are you carrying so much money around with you? You've got enough cash there to last you this lifetime!" Christine said as Harry nodded his head slowly.

"I know—I'm hoping that it will." Harry replied as Christine sighed deeply.

"They won't let a kid like you onto the plane unless you've got a guardian with you—we'll have to dye your hair, and get you color contact lenses so you look more like me. I'll say you're my cousin or something." Christine said as Harry smiled, for the first time in weeks.

"Really?" Harry asked in shock as Christine nodded.

"Thank you!" Harry said happily as he grabbed Christine and gave her a huge hug, before realizing what he was doing.

"I'm sorry—I was just... overexcited." Harry mumbled as he stepped back embarrassingly.

Christine laughed slightly, before heading towards the door.

"Come on, I ordered some pizza. I hope you like cheese. Because that's the only kind I'll eat." The teenager said as Harry's smile widened.

"I'll be out in a sec—I don't think I've ever tasted pizza." Harry said truthfully as Christine gave him another shocked look.

"That's crazy... I don't know how I'd live without pizza!" the girl said as Harry laughed.

"Anyways, I'll be right out afterwards—what time is it by the way?"

"It's eleven o'clock. Nearly noon. You've been asleep for the last few hours." Christine explained as Harry nodded.

"No wonder I'm starving—Christine, I was just wondering... can we also go shopping after lunch? I look like an idiot wearing these clothes." Harry said as he looked down onto the hand-me-downs the Dursleys had given him.

"Of course—you're paying for your own stuff though. I'm saving my money for pizza and souvenirs I'm going to buy down in China." Christine noted as Harry nodded.

"Not a problem, as you can see, money is not a problem at all." Harry grinned as Christine nodded, before turning around, and walking out the door.

Harry sighed in relief as he looked down onto the bed, where the three rolls of cash here. That wasn't even half of what he had brought with him. Earlier that week, the boy who lived had paid Gringotts, the Wizarding bank a visit; and had swapped over five thousand galleons into pounds.

The goblins were so happy that Harry could get the muggle cash off their hands, they even gave him a free magical backpack.

The backpack, on the outside, looked absolutely normal. But on the inside, it was huge—it had secret compartments for money, and what made this backpack so special was, only the owner could see the compartments. Therefore, only Harry had access to his new 'life savings'.

Sighing as he stuffed the cash into his pocket, Harry headed towards the door. He was in a way, worried. He didn't know if he should keep his wand, or chuck it. He was scared the Ministry of Magic was going to catch him, and bring him back to Hogwarts. Into the Wizarding world. Back into Voldemort's world.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked as Harry snapped out of his thoughts. The fifteen year old suddenly realized that he was in a kitchen, one that didn't look half as nice as the Dursleys, but was still, all the same, homey.

"Try a piece. I guarantee you'll fall madly in love with it by the end of this hour." Christine said as Harry sat down at the table, and grabbed a piece of cheese pizza, before biting into the delicious bread.

"Who was the genius who invented this? And where was I when all this happened?" Harry asked with his mouth full as he began to stuff food into his mouth.

"I've got no idea who invented it, but it's the Italians." Christine explained as she watched Harry finish his first piece of pizza in less then a minute flat.

"It's bloody delicious!" Harry said as he grinned.

"Help yourself—I doubt you've eaten anything for the last few hours. Want anything to drink? I've got some coke In the fridge if you want any." Christine said as Harry frowned slightly.

"Coke?" he asked as Christine got up from the table, walked over to the fridge, and pulled out two cans of 'coke'.

"Jeez, your aunt and uncle must've starved you or something. How can you not know about coke? The next thing you ask is what McDonalds is." Christine said sarcastically as she handed a can of coke to Harry, who opened it and took a sip of it slowly.

"Yum!" Harry said as he took another drink of it.

"Slow down, you're going to choke yourself to death." Christine joked as Harry slowed his eating pace.

"Sorry, can't help myself. This stuff is delicious!" Harry said as he took a bite of his second piece of pizza, and chewed it slowly, his taste buds melting from the wonderful taste.

"I'm glad you like it." Christine said as she opened her coke, and took a small sip of it, before continuing to eat her pizza.

*****

"I can't believe that man! How could he—this is—this is absolutely stupid!" George said as he stormed into his room.

"I hate him!" Fred said as he walked in after his brother, and slammed the door behind him.

"Ouch! Watch it will you?" Ron's voice said from the other side.

The door to the Weasley twin's room was opened, and Ron, Hermione and Ginny stepped in.

"What do you want?" George snapped.

"What did you mean, by 'if it wasn't for Harry, we wouldn't have a future'?" Ron asked as George frowned and looked up at Fred.

"We're not in the mood right now Ron. Maybe later. We need to think up a plan on how to find Harry." Fred said as Ginny giggled.

"Does it hurt to think?" she asked as both the twins leaped to their feet to glare at her angrily.

"Ginny, we're not in the mood right now to joke around. As shocking as it may be, George and I are **serious**!" Fred shouted angrily as Ginny stopped her giggling immediately.

"What can we do to help?" Ginny asked in a serious tone as the Weasley twins looked at each other for a moment, before walking over to their desks to pull something out—something big.

"What's that?" Hermione asked as Fred and George unravelled the large roll of parchment.

"You know the marauder's map? How it shows a map of Hogwarts? Well, Fred and I made one for England. We've been working on it since we gave the map to him. Finally finished it last week." Fred explained as Hermione's eyes widened in shock.

"Wow." She said as she looked at the large map.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to some good." George said as he pointed his wand at the map.

"Some good? I thought it was no good." Ron said as he frowned.

"Had to change the password somehow. Even if it was just one word." Fred muttered as he waved his wand at the map.

  
            "Show only the Gryffindors that are going into their sixth year in Hogwarts please." The red head said as practically all the dots on the map disappeared, and around eight golden dots appeared onto the map.

"Let's see... Dean Thomas... no... Neville Longbottom... no... obvious not at the burrow, only you and Hermione are here—wait! I've found him!" Fred said happily as he pointed towards the golden dot on the map that read 'Harry James Potter'.

"I wonder what he's doing." Ginny muttered as George grinned.

"We can find out." He said as he pointed his wand at Harry's dot and muttered 'show us'.

The map blurred, and the next thing they saw, was Harry Potter. Staring into a mirror wearing a pair of red and gold sweat pants, and a white t-shirt with a lion's head on the back of it; a girl around the ages of eighteen stood next to him saying something.

"Wow—how'd you do that?" Hermione asked, but no one answered.

"Let us hear." Fred said as he swished his wand at the map.

_"Seriously James, what's with all the red and gold? And the lion Symbol—you're always asking for the same clothes." The girl said as Harry smiled at his reflection._

_"It's a lot better then green and silver. I'd take a lion symbol over a snake any day." Harry said truthfully as the girl gave him a confused look._

_"You're strange you know that?" she asked as Harry laughed._

"I haven't seen him smile since Sirius—since the incident." Hermione whispered as she watched what was happening.

_"Well, as your um... cousin, I think I should be strange, after all, it runs in the family. Practically all your clothing is pink Christine!" Harry said as the girl frowned at him._

_"Oh shut up James Potter!" she said as Harry laughed again._

"Why does she keep calling him James?" Ginny wondered out loud, but no one answered.

_"I think I'll buy this stuff. Some bigger clothing wouldn't hurt. I've no idea how tall I'll be by this time next year." Harry said as he walked over to a rack of t-shirts and jackets to start picking clothes out._

_"James, choose some other colors will you? I'll even buy something that's not pink of you buy some clothing that isn't red and gold!" the girl, Christine said as Harry smiled._

_"Sure!" he replied happily as he began to take a ton of clothes off the rack._

_"Are you mad? We're going to end up having to buy two extra trunks! I'm not going to pay for the next fees at the airport!" Christine said as Harry laughed again._

_"I've got it covered. I reckon I can stuff all of it into my backpack." Harry said as Christine frowned at him._

_"Even if you did, that's impossible. Your backpack is too small." Christine said as Harry shook his head._

_"Nothing is impossible, and you never know what kind of magical tricks I've got up my sleeve for you, dear cousin." Harry said as Christine gave him a look._

_"I'm watching you—Potter. Don't try anything silly, or no pizza for you!" Christine threatened as Harry's face turned to horror._

_"No! You wouldn't! Anything but the pizza! You can throw me out of the motel if you want!" Harry said as Christine laughed._

"What's pizza?" George asked.

"Muggle food, it's really good." Hermione explained.

"What's an airport?" Ron asked, but Hermione shushed him and continued to watch and listen to the conversation.

_"I think this is enough." Harry said after around three minutes, he had a huge pile of clothes there, ranging from red to gold to dark blue and even black.._

_"Well, better go pay... I swapped a few of my pink outfits for some different coloured ones. I hope your happy." Christine said as she threw Harry an annoyed look, causing the boy to laugh._

_"Yes, I am indeed happy, for the first time in a long time." Harry said the last sentence quietly, before grabbing the large pile of clothes and heading towards the cashier._

_After around ten minutes, the cashier had gone through all the items and added the amount total together._

_"That'll be um... two hundred pounds sir." The cashier said as Christine's eyes widened._

_"What? I'm taking some of this stuff back!" she shouted as she attempted to grab some of Harry's clothes._

_"No! I can pay for it!" Harry said as he held her back, reached into the pocket of his old grey pants, and pull a roll of cash out._

_Slowly counting up the cash, Harry pulled the notes out of the roll, and handed it to the cashier, who was shocked that a young boy like him had so much money with him. Harry had even given her a few pounds for a tip._

_"Come on Christine, we can walk back to the motel, it's only a few minutes away. That is, if you can handle carrying all this stuff." Harry said as he looked at the bags of clothing._

_"Oh yes, of course I can!" Christine said sarcastically as she grabbed two bags each hand, and headed towards the door, leaving eight bags behind for Harry to carry._

_"Thanks!" Harry said with a smile as he grabbed the other eight bags and chased after her._

"How did Harry get that much muggle money?" Hermione asked in shock.

"Hermione, he's Harry Potter! He probably went and swapped a couple hundred galleons at Gringotts." Fred said, not realizing what he said.

"A few hundred galleons is a lot of gold you idiot!" George said as he swatted his brother across the head.

"Oh shut up." Fred muttered as he continued to watch.

"I feel like I'm watching TV." Hermione muttered to herself.

_"How can you handle carrying so many bags? I'm only carrying four and I'm close to falling." Christine complained as Harry gave her a smirk._

_"Didn't you know, I'm athletic. I play for the best school sports team in all of England." Harry said as Christine stuck her tongue out at him._

_"Come on, hurry up. I want to go buy some hair dye. Like you said, they'll never let me onto the airplane if my guardians aren't with me. I'll have to look like you! And where in the world would I go to get coloured contacts?" Harry asked as he continued to walked, slowly down every once in a while to let Christine catch up to her._

_"Enough questions already! Follow me—I know a short cut." Christine said suddenly as she turned into an alley, with Harry following her._

"It's not safe to go into alleys like that—they could get mugged." Hermione said in concerned, but before she could finish her sentence, two rough looking guys jumped out of a corner holding metal crow bars.

_"Hey there beautiful... I saw you back in the store—you looked damn fine." One of the men said as Christine's expression turned into a look of disgust._

_"How about you hand those clothes over shrimp? And all that money we saw you have? Or we'll get the pay in full from your girlfriend." The other man said as he approached Christine with a look of danger in his eyes._

_"Get your hands off me you son of a bitch!" Christine shouted as the man grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him._

_"Christine!" Harry shouted as he dropped the bags onto the ground, and reached into his robes._

_But before Harry could do any damage, Christine kneed the man who had grabbed her straight in the nuts._

"Ouch—that's got to hurt." Ron said as his two brother nodded.

"It does—remember when Ginny got mad at us when she was five? Boy—she had one heck of a powerful kick." George said darkly as Ginny laughed.

_"You bitch! Ryan, beat the shit out of her for me" the man shouted in pain as he fell to the ground grabbing himself between his legs._

_"You little whore—I'll show you!" the other man, Ryan obviously, said as he approached Christine with his crowbar._

_"Stupefy!" Harry's voice cried out as the five kids watching the map gasped in shock._

"He'll get expelled!" Ginny whispered.

"Who cares? That was cool!" Fred said as Ginny and Hermione both threw him an angry look, causing him to shut up again.

_The man fell to the ground unconscious, and Christine turned back to face Harry in shock._

_"What the hell did you just do?" she asked as Harry pocketed his wand, and picked up the bags of clothing._

_"Come on, let's go—I'll explain when we get back to the motel—the ministry of magic's going to be here soon—I **refuse** to go back with them." Harry said as Christine nodded her head slowly, and followed him out of the alley._

_"You there! Stop!" a voice behind them shouted as Harry and Christine began to run like crazy._

At that moment, the map began to blur vibrantly. 

"What's going on?" Hermione asked as Fred and George both groaned.

"The ministry! They're there—they've prevented us from watching at this moment. Maybe we'll be able to see what happens after a while. I hope Harry doesn't get caught." Fred muttered as he tapped his wand on the map a few times.

"Un-blur! Un-blur! Oh for Merlin's sake. We'll try again in half an hour. I'm putting this away in case mum walks in on us." Fred said as George pointed his wand at the map, and whispered "Mission accomplish", causing the parchment to go blank again.

"Where do you think Harry's travelling to? America?" Ron asked.

"I don't know—that girl he was with—he called her his cousin." Hermione said as everyone frowned in confusion.

"Her name was Christine wasn't she? She kept calling Harry James too—you think Harry's using his middle name to avoid suspicion?" George guessed as practically everyone in the room sighed.

There was a moment of silence, before Hermione spoke.

"George—Fred—your map, does it only show witches and wizards?" she asked as the Weasley twins shook their heads.

"Only those who have wands. We can lock into their magical signature. If they don't have a wand, or it's been snapped or broken, we can't watch them." Fred explained as Hermione nodded.

"Do you think we should tell the adults what we know?" Ginny asked, causing everyone to sigh again.

"I donno Ginny... and I bet no one here knows either..." Ron muttered as he sighed again, and looked down onto the ground.

_'Where ever you are Harry, be careful.' Ron thought to himself before sighing once more._

**Author's note:**_I hope you enjoyed that chapter! I had the idea in my head for a few days now, and just decided I might as well write it down. Also..._

**SEE THAT THERE? CLICK IT AND REVIEW PLEASE! THANKS!**

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	2. Destruction of His Wand

**Title: **Harry Potter and the Darkness of Life

**Chapter: **(2) Destruction of his Wand

**Author: **Laen

**Summary:** After Sirius' death, Harry's completely lost his will to live, so he decides to make an attempt to escape the Wizarding world. What happens when he becomes friends with a muggle, and travels to China? Will Hogwarts ever be the same after Harry comes back? Read to find out!

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter isn't mine! Neither are Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and definitely the country China! But '_Christine Parkers_' is my own character. Don't sue! 

**Rated:** At this moment? Probably PG, but later on in the chapter, it might change to PG13 or maybe even 14A, depending on how grim the 'murders' and 'deaths' of the death eaters are... cough, cough.

Christine was in shock, how did Harry knock that mugger out like that? With a simple stick? And further more, who in the world was the 'ministry of magic'?

She didn't bother to ask any questions, until they arrived back in the motel, where they dumped all their bags of clothing onto the table and collapse onto the couch gasping for air.

"What the hell did you just do?" Christine asked as she walked over to the fridge, and took out two cans of coke.

"You might think this is crazy—and trust me, it is—but I'm a wizard. And I can use magic." Harry explained as Christine gave him a look.

"You're right about that—it is crazy." Christine muttered as she handed Harry the coke.

"You believe me? You're not freaked out? You're not going to call the police?" Harry asked in confusion as Christine shook her head.

"If you hadn't noticed, you _did_ just save my life. But who the hell are the ministry of magic? And why where they after you?"

"The ministry of magic—they make sure that muggles—that means non-magical people, don't find out about us—wizards and witches. They cover up any mess-ups that wizards and witches make when they're using magic—"

"Kinda like the 'Men in Black'!" Christine cut in, but the moment she said it, a look of confusion appeared onto Harry's face.

"Men in Black?" he asked with a weird expression on his face.

"O—it's my **FAVOURITE** movie! There's two parts to it now, since the second movie came out—we can watch it later, I've got the DVD for both of them—carry it around with me—don't laugh at me! I'm not crazy!" Christine said as Harry burst out laughing.

"You carry the movies around?" Harry asked as Christine rolled her eyes.

"Of course not! They're in my suitcase—anyways, talking about suitcases—you said you didn't need any extra trunks to place the clothes—but where're you gonna put it?"

"My backpack—"

"How?"

"Hang on—I'll be right back." Harry said as he got up from the couch and headed towards his current bedroom.

He returned a moment later with his backpack opened, and grabbed a few bags of clothing with him before he sat back down by Christine.

"Watch—" Harry muttered as he took some clothes and stuffed it into his backpack.

Christine's eyes widened when she saw that all the clothes Harry had bought fit inside his backpack easily.

"How?"

"Magic." Harry explained.

"That's amazing—"

"Not really."

"Say—do you think it'll be alright for us to go and get your contacts? Plus get your hair dyed?" Christine asked as Harry pulled some clothes back out of his backpack.

"Give me a sec—I've got to change, I look stupid with these clothes on." Harry muttered as he headed back into his bedroom.

Half an hour later, Christine and Harry appeared at the London Eye Care Center, to get Harry his contacts. After the doctors took a look at his eyes, and wrote down his eyes status, they began working on his glasses.

Usually, it would take weeks to make a pair of glasses—getting the lenses carved, and placing it into the frames, but Harry had offered to pay three times the normal amount if it was finished that day.

The contacts on the other hand, were quicker, since they had tons of pre-packed packages Harry could buy. The raven haired boy looked through a few of them, and finally decided on buying pale blue color contacts.

"We should be able to get it done by six pm—I hope that's not too long for you." One of the eye doctors—Dr. Williams said as Harry shook his head.

"We'll come back to receive it then, I've already paid half the money, I'll pay the other half when I come this evening." Harry said as he and Christine said thanks to the doctor, then left to go to the mall.

Inside the mall, were many shops. After looking through a few of them, Harry and Christine finally found a barber shop, and had gone inside to get Harry's hair dyed.

_Meanwhile..._

"Fred! It's been more then an hour! Will you let us check the map already?" Ginny shouted as she pounded at the door of the Fred and George's rooms.

"Alright—alright—don't freak out." George said as he finally opened the door, and let Ron, Hermione, and Ginny back into the room.

"You've been watching all this time!" Hermione said angrily as the Weasley twins smiled sheepishly at her.

"Oops?" Fred muttered as Ginny glared at them.

"Just shut up and watch the bloody map already." Ron said as the attention of the five wizards and witches drawled upon the map.

_"James, you look hilarious cute!" Christine said as she ruffled Harry's now brown streaked hair._

_"Sod off Christine—hey look, pizza! Let's get some!" Harry said as he ran towards 'Pizza Hut'._

_The teenagers each ordered a slice of cheese pizza, and some coke—which Harry had found a liking to, and sat down at a nearby table to chat._

_"So—James, d'you think those ministry people will chase after you? I mean—the last thing I need is to be on an airplane half way to China with a ton of wizards roaming around trying to poke an eye out with their wands." Christine said as she took a bite of her pizza._

"They're going to **CHINA**?" Hermione asked in shock as she continued to watch what happened.

_"I hope not—but then knowing Fudge, the git probably would poke an eye out. I swear, he has the IQ of a snail." _

"Forget about China, how does she know about _us_?" Fred said as he frowned.

_"From what I hear from you, this Fudge dude has got to be a pain in the ass." Christine said as Harry nodded._

_"I pity Voldemort if he ever bumps into Fudge." Harry grinned._

"Why?" Ron asked.

_"Why?" Christine questioned._

_"He's Fudge—anyone who has the misfortune to bump into him will end up losing a few years off the end of their lives because their brains heard too much crap from him." Harry said as a small smile appeared onto Christine's face._

"I can't believe he's insulting Fudge!" Ginny muttered as George and Fred conjured up some popcorn.

"Go Harry! Keep it coming! You know we hate him!" the twins said happily as they stuffed some popcorn into their mouths.

"George!" Hermione and Ginny both said at the same time, but Ron saw the identical smile on the two girls.

_"Where do you think we should go next? There are still a few hours before we pick up your contacts. Do you want to go watch a movie?" she asked as Harry frowned._

_"What kind of movies are out at this moment? I've never seen any my whole life."_

_"You've got to be kidding—well, we could always go back to the motel and watch 'Men in Black'."_

_"Nah, we'd be running around in circles then. Better stick to somewhere in this area—I saw some place near the Eye Care Center—some arcade or something like that. Maybe we can go there."_

_"The arcade? Sure! I wonder if they have DDR over there."_

_"DRR?" Harry once again had a confused expression on his face._

_"Yea, Dance Dance Revolution! It's this dancing machine. You just follow the steps and—well, you'll get it when you see it. If they have it of course—let's go!" Christine said as she quickly finished her drink and pizza, then led Harry back towards the arcade._

"I know that place! It's the arcade in 'The Mountain Mall'!" Hermione cried out the moment she saw the arcade.

"The _what_?" Ron, George, Fred, and Ginny all asked in confusion.

(**A/N:**_ the Mountain Mall is just some name I thought of right off the top of my head, if it actually does exist in English, London then I'll probably faint from shock.)_

"The Mountain Mall! It's about a half hour walk from the Leaky Cauldron—"

"Let's floo over to the shop. Then we can catch a cab down to this Mountain Mall or something." Fred suggested as he got up from the bed.

"Good idea—but we've no muggle money!" Ron said as Hermione whacked him across the head.

"What am I? A frog? I've got muggle money!" she said as Ron threw a look at her.

"Okay, but what do you think we tell the order?"

"We tell them nothing—just that we're going to the shop. Then Hermione decides to make a stop at the Arcade to show us some cool muggle games." Ginny improvised as everyone nodded.

"Good idea, let's go."

_Meanwhile..._

"Come on James, you can do better then that! That's two steps! Not one! Come on! Faster!" Christine said as Harry jumped around from step to step on the dancing machine.

After a few more seconds, he had lost the round, and the game was over.

"You suck at this game." A nearby boy muttered as Harry turned to glare at him, only to be shocked by who it was.

"Dudley?"

"How do you know my name?" the fat Dursley asked as Christine nudged him in the ribs.

"Who's he?" she whispered as Harry sighed slightly.

"My cousin." He whispered back as he walked forward to Dudley.

"The name's James, Big D." Harry said as he raised one of his eyebrows at his cousin.

"Oh—that still doesn't explain how you know my name." Dudley mumbled as Harry yawned slightly.

There was a small crowd around them now, and Harry noticed that Pier and most of Dudley's old friends were there with him. Only they looked a bit bigger, and stupider.

"That's for me to know—and for you to find out. And what are you lot staring at? Go back to playing your games." Harry stated as some of the people turned to walk away.

"Hey kid—don't start any fights now. The arcade'll get shut down if you lot keep doing that." A nearby guard said as Harry nodded.

The boy who lived turned around, and walked towards another machine that he noticed Christine was busy playing at the moment. It was an old cowboy shooting game.

The point of the game was to shoot all the bad guys—but at the same time, dodge the shots they made. The play field was large, and Harry noticed the ground there was suddenly padded, and squishy.

He soon realized why. Harry watched as one of the players using the machine next to Christine roll his way out of a bullet, then raise his 'gun' and shoot the other man.

"Wow." He muttered as he continued to watch.

The boy—probably around the age of thirteen, looked like a pro when it came to this game, and was quite athletic, consider the fact that he was rolling, jumping, and even at time, flipping out of the way of flying bullets.

After what seemed like ten minutes, Harry noticed that he wasn't the only person watching the young child. There was quite a large crowd now, even the guard was amused by the boy's tactics.

Finally, Harry decided to pry his eyes off the boy, and try the game himself. He placed two tokens into the machine, and then got ready for the game to start.

Immediately, he watched as the screen changed, and pictures of burglars and thief appeared, explaining to Harry some detail. Apparently, the actual point of the game was to shoot the bad guys, and prevent them from entering the bank from robbing it, but at the same time, avoid injuring and harming the bystanders.

After Harry re-read the rules and instructions three times, he pressed the start button, and got into a battle stance; gun at his side, ready for attack.

A man who had long, blonde, and crazy hair appeared, Harry noticed he was holding a gun in his left hand, and was making his way to the bank. The first thought that flashed through his head was _Lucius Malfoy_.

Without thinking any further, Harry pointed the gun at the man he decided to call Malfoy, and pulled the trigger twice. The bullets made contact with Lucius' head and shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground in a slump, and Harry watched as another person entered the screen.

It was a woman who looked similar to Bellatrix was now beginning to walk over to the bank. Harry felt hatred rise up beneath him as he raised the gun and took shot after shot at the woman, all of them hit her in the head, and it looked practically repeatedly.

When the woman dropped to the ground, and Harry's bullets ran out, he did what he had seen the boy do earlier, move towards the side, and let the gun slowly re-load.

When the gun was once again, full of bullets, he moved back into view, and began shooting at the 'bad guys' who appeared onto the screen, avoiding the bystanders at all cost.

Many of the burglars, and thieves, looked like a few of the death eaters, and therefore, in a way, helped Harry relief himself of his anger.

After what seemed like twenty minutes—and Harry placing dozens of tokens into the machine, Harry passed the final level and was no longer in the 'cowboy stage'.

He was now in a dark forest, the surroundings were somewhat similar to the Forbidden Forest, and Harry watched as cloaked figures zoomed in and out of the screen, shooting bullets at him every once in a while.

Dodging, and now, even rolling out of the way, Harry attacked back. Christine, who had been watching him intently for the last little while, realized that Harry was no longer treating the 'game' as a game. But rather as something quite real. Someone that was like a training unit.

"Damn death eaters." Harry growled as he dodged as few bullets, and fired some back.

The words _'Further on in the Forest_' appeared onto the screen, and Harry began to walk slowly on the ground. Throughout the last few minutes, Harry realized that the whole area he played on was able to sense his moments, meaning the machine knew when he was walking, running, jumping, rolling, or even re-loading his gun.

More 'death eaters' appeared onto the screen, and Harry quickly pulled the trigger a few times, sending them to the ground. The symbol on the screen that told Harry how many bullets he had left was slowly running around, and Harry quickly moved towards the side to re-load when he noticed one last cloaked figure walk into the forest.

The thought of the battle Harry had against Voldemort weeks before the end of his fourth year suddenly flashed through the boy's eyes; and Harry shuddered slightly.

Harry blinked slightly, and looked down at his hand. He was no longer holding the gun attached to the machine, but his own wand. When he looked up, the last 'bad guy' on the screen was no longer the cloaked figure, but Voldemort. He seemed to be back in the cemetery again.

_'Damn!'_ Harry through as he gasped slightly.

He blinked again, and he was suddenly back in the arcade. He watched as the cloaked figure raised its gun, and fired three bullets at him. Harry quickly dived out of the way, and pulled himself into a roll, ending on one knee.

He raised his gun, aimed, and then pulled the trigger.

**BAM!**

_Game Over!_

**FLASH!**

_"You have been taught how to duel, Harry Potter?" Voldemort said softly, his red eyes glinting through the darkness._

_Harry gasped at the sudden coldness, and memory of the third and last task in the Tri-Wizard Cup._

_"We bow to each other, Harry," said Voldemort, bending a little, but keeping his snake-like face upturned to Harry. "Come, the niceties must be observed... Dumbledore would like you to show manners... bow to death, Harry…"_

_Laughter could be heard from Death Eaters all around, and Voldemort's lipless mouth was smiling. Harry shuddered as he swallowed slowly, and begin to pant._

_"I said, bow," Voldemort said, raising his wand—and Harry felt his spine curve as though a huge, invisible hand was bending him ruthlessly forwards, and the Death Eaters laughed harder than ever. _

_"Damn you Voldemort." Harry managed to gasp before he raised his wand at the dark lord._

"Avada Kedavra!" Harry felt his mouth move, and his voice cry out, and a look of fear appeared onto his face as he watched a bright beam of green light appear out of his hand, pass through the gun he held, and made contact with the machine game he was playing earlier.

**KABOOM!**

Screams could be heard as teenagers and children all ages ran towards the nearest exits, away from Harry; but the boy who lived could only stand there in shock. Plain shock.

"Harry! Harry!" a familiar voice cried out as Harry felt someone grab him by his shoulder and twirl him around. He dropped the gun slowly, and gasped for air.

"Harry! Are you alright?" It was Hermione.

"Get away from me—he'll come after you—all of you—he'll kill you—just like he did to Cedric—just like he did to my parents—to Sirius—get away from me." Harry said as he pulled himself away from Hermione's reach, and took a few steps back.

"James, what's going on?" Christine was still there, staring in shock.

"Go back to the motel—I've got something to deal with right now—just go—and hurry." Harry whispered as eighteen year old teenage girl nodded, then ran out of the arcade.

"Harry mate, what's going on?" Fred—or was it George's voice rang through the room as Harry struggled to see through the smoke that came from the destroyed machine.

"I told you—get away from me—I'm not Harry—Harry's dead!"

"Harry—get some sense in your head—wake up!" Ginny was now shaking him angrily.

"Ginny, leave him alone! He's still going through shock or something!" Ron cried out as Ginny quickly let go of Harry and took a few steps back from the scared and frightened sixteen year old.

"Harry—It's me, George, listen mate, we're all real worried about you—if you could, please—come back with us to Headquarters and we can sort all of this out—"

"No! I'm not going back there! Back to where _he_ was... the place he stayed at for so long—the place he hated so much—I'm not going back." Harry whispered as he took a few steps back, and felt himself make contact with the wall behind him.

"Harry—please... just—listen to us." Hermione pleaded as Harry shook his head.

"How did you find me? How?" Harry asked as Fred and George looked at each other for a moment.

"Your magical signature. You've got your wand with you. We made a map of England, similar to Hogwarts." One of the twins explained as Harry reached into his pocket, and pulled his wand out.

"This is the thing that helped you find me?" Harry questioned as his friends all nodded.

"Then I'll break it..."

"Harry, no!" Ginny cut in.

"... and you'll no longer be able to follow me—I'll have a new life—the ministry will leave me alone—Voldemort will leave me alone—I wouldn't have to worry about the Prophecy that old bat Trelawney made—"

"What prophecy? Harry, I thought that was destroyed!" Ron asked as Harry continued to pant and gasp for air.

"It was—but Dumbledore was there—he heard Trelawney make that prophecy—and he told me—he told me—I have to leave this place—leave forever—never come back—never." Harry whispered slowly as he wrapped his two hands around his wand, raised it, and got ready to snap it in half.

"No!" Hermione, Ginny, Ron, Fred, and George all cried out at the same time as Harry forced himself to break the piece of magical wood in half.

As the wand snapped in half, Harry felt a burst of energy escape from the magical item, and flow though him. He gasped when he finished breaking his wand.

"Harry you idiot! That was the only wand that had a connection to You-Know-Who's!" Ron shouted as Harry looked up at him.

"I don't care—I really don't care." Harry said as he closed his eyes, and imagined himself back in the motel room.

When he opened his eyes, he was shocked to see that he was—then it dawned on him. He had just apparated.

_Back at the Arcade..._

"What the bloody hell!" Fred swore as he watched the boy in front of them disappear with a small crack.

"He apparated! But—he's underage! It's impossible!" Hermione gasped as she stared at the stop where Harry had just been moments ago.

**CRACK!**

Dozens of popping sounds suddenly appeared, and members of the Order and Aurors appeared.

"What happened? Which one of you lot used the Killing Curse?" one of them—Ron and Hermione recognized as Amos Diggory asked as he pointed his wand around at them.

"It wasn't us! Really!" George said as he raised his hands into the air in shock.

The five teenagers looked around at the wizards and witches that surrounded them with wands, and noticed that Mad-Eye Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Tonks were among the crowd.

"Then who did this?" Moody asked as he pointed his hand at the destroyed machine.

"It was—Harry—he was playing some shooting game—and the final level—the people who appeared looked like Death Eaters—and he—he just freaked out—" Hermione managed to whisper as the Aurors are them all gasped in shock.

"Potter used the killing curse? And did _that_?"  Kingsley asked as he pointed at his hand at the machine and his jaw fell.

"Yes." Ginny answered as the Aurors began to whisper.

"Silence!" A voice shouted through the loud whispers, and immediately, everyone shut up.

Looks of shock appeared onto the five teenager's face as they watched the speaker walk towards them, wand raised.

"Percy." Fred spat the word out of his mouth, as if it was poison.

"George." Percy replied as a foul look appeared onto both the twins faces.

"I'm George your idiot! You call yourself our brother." George said coldly as Percy raised an eyebrow.

"The last I checked, I no longer called you my brother—since you, mum and dad decided to side with that old fool—"

"Stupefy!" the two twins cried out as they pointed their wands at the older Weasley.

The red head fell to the floor in a slump, and a look of satisfaction appeared onto the twin's faces.

"You two—hand your wands over—that's against the law—attacking a ministry Auror!" one of the wizards cried out.

"Last I checked, Percy was gopher boy working for Fudge—and he wasn't an Auror, so we don't give a crap." George said as he raised his wand up at them.

"And we were merely standing up for the second greatest wizard of all time—Dumbledore." Fred said as a few of the Aurors frowned slightly.

"Who would be the first on your lists then? You-Know-Who?" a man in dark Auror's robes asked icily as the twins merely laughed and shook their heads.

"Who else other then the wizard who helped us pass our N.E.W.T's..."

"...the wizard who saved the world so many times..."

"...and the boy who attempted to stop Voldemort from coming back to power..."

"...from stealing the prophecy..." Ron added his bit, as the twins smiled slightly, and continued to talk, each person carrying their sentence on.

"...and helped send dozens of Death Eaters to Azkaban..."

"Who else other than the boy who lived? Who else other then Harry Potter?" Fred and George both finished at the same time, in a serious and sincere tone.

"You've got to be kidding." A witch muttered in the crowd.

"We're not. While the rest of the Wizarding world was blind to Voldemort's rise—Dumbledore and the students of Hogwarts weren't." Ginny muttered as all three of her brothers nodded.

"Although that idiotic, good for nothing, Umbridge was there to disrupt our lives last year, Harry created a school defence association. To teach the students how to defend ourselves against Death Eaters—against dementors." Fred stated as some of the Aurors looked at each other to see their reactions.

"He helped us—he saw hope to defeat Voldemort even at the darkest of times—even when the rest of the world wouldn't believe him. Even when stupid gits like Fudge—"

"Don't go insulting the minister!" Diggory cut in, but George continued.

"—even when stupid gits like Fudge went around saying he was crazy, that he and Dumbledore were mad, that Voldemort wasn't back—he continued to fight. He continued by teaching us how to defend ourselves. He fought through the DA."

"Are you done talking?" Moody asked as all eyes darted towards him.

"Yes. We are. Happy?" Fred asked in a sarcastic tone.

"As a matter of fact, we are. You five—come with me." Moody growled as he began to lead them out of the arcade.

"Oy Moody! We've got to question him still!" one of the wizards shouted, but Moody's pace didn't change, if any, it sped up.

"Forget about questions. How many muggles saw _this_? We've got to oblivate them!" Tonk's voice rang out as the five teenagers followed Moody out of the Arcade, and back into the mall.

"Here's a Portkey—it's unauthorized, but Dumbledore say it doesn't matter—it'll take you back to Headquarters, when you get there—explain to Dumbledore what's happen—after your done—tell him to get down to the Ministry, or Fudge's going to have Aurors out trying to arrest Harry next for using a killing curse. All they've got to do is track his magical signature, and he's toast." Moody said as he pulled a small rock out of his robes.

"On the count of three—" the kids all reached in, and placed a finger on the rock.

"Three—Two—One—"

**SWISH!**

The five teens soon found themselves standing at the doorway to number twelve, Grimmauld Place; standing in front of them—was Albus Dumbledore himself.

"Get in." the headmaster said as he opened the door, and ushered the five teenagers into the house.

"Fred! George! Ron! Ginny! Hermione!" Mrs. Weasley cried out as she ran forwards and gave all of the kids a huge hug, they could tell she had been sobbing.

"Mum—we're okay!" Ginny managed to gasp as her mother released her and on to give Hermione a hug.

"What happened?" Dumbledore asked when they had all finally reached the 'meeting room'.

"We found Harry—" Hermione said as gasps could be heard from everyone in the room, even Snape was in shock.

"What? Where?" Remus asked as he jumped to his feet.

"At an arcade in downtown London—we found him through Fred and George's map—" Ron began, but was soon cut in.

"What map?" Mr. Weasley asked in confusion.

"It's like the Maruader's Map, but it's of London—"

"What's the Maruader's Map?" Bill Weasley asked.

"It was a map of Hogwarts that showed all the students, teachers, ghosts, whatever—it seems the Weasleys must have found a way to create one similar to it of London." Remus said as all eyes fell upon him.

"Yeah... anyways, this was what happened..." George began...

**A/N:** _PLEASE REVIEW BELOW!_


	3. The Flight to China

**Title: **Harry Potter and the Darkness of Life

**Chapter: **(3) The Flight To China

 ****

**Author: **Laen

**Summary:** After Sirius' death, Harry's completely lost his will to live, so he decides to make an attempt to escape the Wizarding world. What happens when he becomes friends with a muggle, and travels to China? Will Hogwarts ever be the same after Harry comes back? Read to find out!

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter isn't mine! Neither are Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and definitely the country China! But '_Christine Parkers_' is my own character. Don't sue! 

**Rated:** At this moment? Probably PG, but later on in the chapter, it might change to PG13 or maybe even 14A, depending on how grim the 'murders' and 'deaths' of the death eaters are... cough, cough.

= = = = = =

Fear flowed through her as she ran out of the arcade, smoke could be seen rising into the mall, and screams could be heard from children, teenagers, and even adults as everyone hurried along trying to escape.

"They're coming! They alien's are coming! They're going to kill us all!" a nearby woman shouted as she ran about wild.

_'And I thought Matrix Revolution was weird...' _Christine thought as she continued to run.

When she got out of the Mountain Mall, she quickly flagged a taxi down, and gave the driver the directions to the motel. Traffic was hell, as suspected, and after a few minutes, Christine heard the familiar sound of loud popping come from behind the cars.

She quickly handed the driver a few pounds, not taking the time to even check how much she had gave him, and quickly got out of the taxi.

Immediately, she saw that cloaked people holding wands were shooting beams of grey light at the children and adults in the nearby cars. Gasping in fear, she darted away in a nearby alley, and took another route back to the motel.

Left. Right. Jumped out of the way of a speeding car. Left. Another Left. Right again. She ran straight ahead now; the motel was clearly in sight.

_'James better come back alive.'_ Christine thought to herself as she skid to a stop outside the motel.

Honking, screeching, and screams could be heard from a few blocks away, and Christine hurried into the building, not wanting to find out what would happen if she was hit with one of the grey beams of light.

Checking in, she ran up the two flights of stairs that led to her room, and ran in. Only to scream in shock.

"James? How'd you get here so quickly?" she finally managed to say as she closed the door behind her and locked it.

"I—I apparated." Harry said in a tone of disbelief.

"What?" Christine asked in confusion as she walked over to him.

He was standing there, frozen in shock.

"I... disappeared and reappeared in a different location... but... I'm not of age... I shouldn't even be able to." Harry whispered as he looked down at his wand, which was now in two pieces.

"What happened to your wand?"

"I broke it."

"What? Why?" Christine questioned once more in confusion.

"What is this, twenty questions?" Harry asked, replying with the same answer Christine had given him earlier that day.

A smirk appeared onto the eighteen year old girl's face as she shook her head in delight.

"Glad to know you've learned something from me. Other then how great pizza is." Christine muttered as Harry chuckled lightly.

"Say, why don't we go watch 'Men In Black'?" Harry asked as Christine nodded.

"It's about three-thirty right now. We've got another two hours or so until we have to go pick up your glasses. Should be enough time to finish the first part." Christine said as she walked over to her room and returned with a small box titled 'Men In Black'.

For the next few hours, Harry and Christine sat there watching television, eating popcorn—Christine took the liberty of making it—and drinking pop, a drink Harry now seemed to be addicted to.

= = = = = =

"So he just... disappeared?" Remus asked as the five kids all nodded.

"Should've known Potter would be one to know how to illegally disapparate." Severus Snape sneered as the group of witches and wizards alike all glared at him at the same time, causing his sneer to disappear into a look of regret.

"Why didn't you tell us about this map earlier?" Mr. Weasley asked as the twins both sighed deeply.

"We spent so long on it—nearly three bloody years..." George began.

"...the last thing we need is for it to become something the order uses for their own likings..."

"...and we don't want Voldemort to find out about it either..."

"...cause that way everything would be hell! Plus..."

"...We made it our self!" the twins finished at the same time.

"You didn't tell us about the map earlier because you were afraid we would confiscate it?" Charlie asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Harry told us the impostor Moody took his in his fourth year because he didn't want Harry and Dumbledore to find out what he was doing." Fred began to explain as some of the order members frowned.

"And if we let the Order use it, Voldemort will eventually find out about it from some unknown spy..." the two pairs of eyes both darted to Snape now, who looked like he could kill.

"And eventually, he would come to get it himself, and attack us even, just to find out the password."

"There's a password?" Dumbledore questioned.

"Yes. But we're not telling you what it is. As a matter of fact, we're changing it right now, since Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all know what it is already. Not to mention all the codes we use." George said as he and Fred both turned to leave the room.

"Take one more step towards your rooms and I'll hex you into oblivation, underage magic or not." Ginny threatened as she pulled her wand out and pointed it at her brothers.

The twins both gulped, then turned to face them again.

"What now?"

"Mr. Weasley, and Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore began, addressing the twins formally; "do you think there is a possibility you can lend this map to the order?"

"No way."

"Uh uh."

"George! Fred!"

"Mum!" the twins both said angrily as they glared at her.

"We're moving out of here..."

"...so you can't control us any longer..."

"...we can live above the joke shop..."

"...Lee Jordan's been living there anyways..."

"...So good bye!"

The twins both disappeared with a pop and Mrs. Weasley shouted in frustration.

"When have they rebelled like this in the past?" Ron asked Ginny in barely a whisper as they youngest red head shrugged unknowingly.

"Gryffindors... idiots... all of them." Snape muttered under his breath, but everyone in the room heard the comment nevertheless.

"Stupefy!" Bill and Charlie Weasley both shouted at the same time as the Potions Master fell to the ground in a slump.

"Bill! Charlie! Don't tell me you two are going crazy too!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked as the two older Weasleys grin sheepishly.

"Well, we've got to get back to work... lots to do you know." Bill smiled as he disappeared with a pop.

"Yeah... got to get back to Romania... the dragons have probably gone out of control. Bye mum, bye dad. And oh Ron, tell Snape here the next time he insults the Gryffindors like that, he'll have a lot more then a stunning spell coming at him." The moment Charlie finished that comment; he disappeared, before Mrs. Weasley had a chance to lecture him.

Sighing, Molly Weasley turned to face the other three Gryffindors children, but the sight she saw wasn't what she expected.

Ron was standing there, holding a lamp he had just suddenly wrenched off the nearby table, looking as if he was reading to chuck it at Snape.

Ginny and Hermione each held a large book and they also looked like they were ready to injure the professor.

The only expression on Albus Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, and Mr. Weasleys' faces were amusement.

"Are you three mad?"

"Nope."

"No way."

"Last time I checked I wasn't."

Mrs. Weasley finally surrounded as she fell back onto a seat groaning about 'rebellious kids' and 'driving me crazy'.

The three teens could only grin as they placed the material they held in their hands back onto the table, and headed towards the fireplace.

"Where're you going?" Mr. Weasley asked as Ron took some floo powder out of a bag and threw it into the fireplace.

"Diagon Alley." Ron shouted after he entered the fire, and disappeared a moment later.

"I'll come with you. I need to pick up a few things." Remus said as he walked over to the kids.

"Don't worry Molly; I'll keep an eye on them." The werewolf said before the woman could even open her mouth.

"Diagon Alley!" Ginny shouted, and Hermione soon followed.

Remus Lupin entered the fire and shouted 'Diagon Alley', just as the others had done, and soon found himself in the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Come on—let's find Fred and George... maybe we can still see Harry." He said as he led the three teenagers into the Wizarding world.

= = = = = =

"Wow that was wicked." Harry said as the movie ended.

"Yup, now you know why it's my favourite movie." Christine grinned.

"I wonder if Aliens really do exist." Harry mumbled as he got up from his seat on the couch and looked up at the clock that hung on the wall.

"Bloody hell—it's almost six. We'd better hurry down to the eye care center to pick up my glasses." Harry said as he grabbed his backpack, and left the motel room with Christine at his side.

After around fifteen minutes, the two of them arrived at the mall, outside the eye care center. Harry noticed that the arcade looked perfectly normal now, and there was once again, teenagers and adults inside it.

Harry's new glasses were silver, and square. They made him look a lot more mature, not to mention smarter. He no longer looked like the old Harry, but a new one. The goody-two-shoes look was meant for Ravenclaws.

Harry had mentioned this to Christine, and she merely laughed, saying that she would help him change his look so he had more choices when it came to disguise. That night, Harry actually fell into a dreamless, peaceful, and quite sleep.

The next day, Christine had dragged Harry back to the mall, and decided that Harry was going to take on a gangster look. Harry, who was quite confused, and didn't exactly know what the word 'gangster' meant, agreed without a complaint.

While Christine was at a shop looking at chains, rings, and necklaces, Harry was back in the barber shop again, re-dying his hair, making it so it was slightly streaked red. He also decided to cut it a bit shorter, so he could spike it.

Christine had suggested it, saying that it would make him look cooler. By the time it was dinner time that night, Harry no longer looked like himself, if anything, he looked like a Slytherin.

= = = = = =

The Weasley twins had managed to get the map to work for a few seconds the night before, but all they saw of Harry was him placing on a new pair of glasses. Ginny, who just happened to have a camera with her, took the liberty of taking a quick picture of him, in his complete new look.

"The Order will have an easier time finding him now that they have a picture." Remus that commented before leaving the joke shop.

Due to the fact that Harry had destroyed his wand, the map had a harder time trying to locate him and let the Weasley twins know where the founder of their joke shop was.

= = = = = =

"Come on James, hurry up and get your stuff all together! The flight leaves in five hours!" Christine shouted as Harry woke up groaning and complaining.

"What time is it?" he asked as he yawned.

"Ten in the morning hurry up and wake up already!"

Harry got up from the bed, and grabbed some clothes from his backpack, before walking over to the washroom and taking a quick shower to wake himself up.

Ten minutes later, he was out in his brand new clothes that he had brought only two days ago with Christine when they were out shopping.

"Here's your stuff." Christine said as she handed him a bag of jewellery. It was quite heavy.

Harry placed it into his backpack, and explained to Christine he didn't plan on changing until he was on the plane.

"Don't want to attract _too_ much attention you know." He explained as he placed his silver glasses on.

He didn't bother to gel his hair either, and spike it up, since he was also planning to do that on the plane. The clothes he decided to wear were red and gold, Gryffindor colors.

Next, he planned to rid himself of the lightning scar he had on his forehead.

"I really don't know why you won't let me put a simple bandage onto it." Harry complained as Christine applied the cover-up.

"Stop moving!" Christine commanded, and Harry froze for the next few minutes.

When she was done, Harry realized that over an hour had passed already, and it was nearly eleven-thirty.

"Lunch time." He muttered as Christine shook her head.

"Brunch. Didn't have breakfast. Come on, we're checking out—so grab all your stuff."

After checking the room Harry stayed in three times to make sure he hadn't left anything behind, the boy who lived checked out of the motel with his 'cousin'.

= = = = = =

"Hang on—wait a minute—Dimemorex!" Remus shouted as he pointed his wand at the map.

Suddenly, the map of London appeared onto it, and dots were popping up everywhere.

"Gryffindors, going into sixth year, boys only." Fred said as he pointed his wand at the map.

Immediately, the dots all disappeared, only leaving five behind.

"There he is! Harry James Potter!" George said as he tapped his wand twice on the dot.

"Show us."

The screen blurred slightly, and an image of Harry and Christine sitting in a café drinking coffee and eating something appeared.

"Let us hear." This time, it was Ron who said it.

"Eager are we?" Fred asked as Ron nodded.

The six witches and wizards all inched closer, as they watched the conversation in front of them unravel.

_"I really hope they don't find me..." Harry said as he took a sip of his drink._

_"You said the wand was the reason they were able to find you before?" Christine asked as Harry nodded._

_"That's why I snapped it. Personally, I don't want to go back to the Wizarding world. If I could, I'd continue travelling the world—like you are."_

"He can't do that! He's got to finish school!" Hermione stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

_"No way, I won't allow it; you've got to finish school. It might seem like hell now, and the teachers may all seem like slimy idiots—"_

"Isn't she right about that one...? Snape." Ron coughed at the last word, but everyone caught it and grinned.

_"But it'll all be worth it in the end. I'm only going to travel this year, afterwards, I'm going back to school for University. I'll need to get a degree you know, to get a job. I'm hoping to become a teacher. For socials, that's why I'm travelling so much. I need to learn about the world." Christine explained as Harry took another sip of his drink._

_"But you don't have the world on your shoulder. You're not in a prophecy that tells you 'kill or be killed'!" Harry said as in a grim expression._

"So this is what he was talking about back at the arcade." Ginny whispered in a quite voice.

_"I don't really believe in prophecies. From what you've told me, this divinations teacher of yours is a bit mad. Saying you're going to die each week, what a wonder teacher. They should replace her with someone else." _

_"Nah, the teacher they need to replace is Snape. Binns is okay for History class, but that's only because you can catch up on sleep." Harry explained as Christine grinned._

"Isn't that true." George muttered as Hermione frowned.

"I can't believe he's saying this."

_"Say, what time is it?" Harry asked suddenly as Christine checked her watch._

_"Nearly twelve thirty, you should put your watch on. Then you don't have to keep asking me."_

_"Nah, I'll put it on when we're on the plane. Speaking of which, isn't the departure in about two hours?" Harry asked as Christine nodded._

_"Yeah, why?"_

_"We should probably get there early; it'll take us a while to go through security and stuff." Harry stated as Christine nodded._

_"We'll leave now. Too bad though, I've enjoyed London." Christine sighed as she reached for her purse to grab some money out._

_"Here, I'll pay." Harry said as he took a five pound note out from his pocket and placed it on the table._

_"Big tip." Christine muttered as she left the café carrying her suitcase._

_"You bet." Harry grinned._

"They're leaving IN TWO HOURS!?!" Hermione screamed in disbelief as everyone covered their ears.

"Hermione, don't shout!" George stated as the map blurred again, and then stayed that way.

"What the bloody hell—oh shit!" Fred swore angrily as he tapped his wand at the map a few times, and said a few charms in hopes of clearing it up, but it didn't work.

"This is great." Ron complained as he plotted himself into a nearby seat.

"We've got to alert the Order about this." Remus said as he walked over to the fireplace.

"Fred, do you have a phone? I need to call my parents—let them know I'm going to China." Hermione said as the Weasley twins all looked at her in shock.

"What?"

"China?"

"You don't mean—"

"Following him?"

"That's brilliant!" the four Weasley said at the same time as Hermione smirked.

"I wonder if the plane will be all filled up... Well, do you have a phone or not?" Hermione asked again.

"Downstairs, some muggleborns send orders in all the time, kind of need it you see." George explained as he led Hermione down the stairs.

"Dumbledore's been notified about Harry's departure. Oh yes, Fred, your mother wants me to tell you and George to pack your bags. You're going to China. Ron and Ginny, your bags are begin packed as we speak. The members of the order are going to apparate over there, but Molly wants you lot to take the plane down there with her. Apparently your father insisted upon using muggle transportation." When Remus finished, the Weasleys all had grins on their faces.

"We'll have to close the shop for a few days, but that doesn't matter." Fred said happily as George and Hermione returned upstairs.

"Close the shop? Why?" George asked.

"We're going to China!" the three Weasley kids said happily as a grin appeared onto George's face too.

"So am I, my mum and dad say they'd love to come with me, but they've got work. So I need to stop by my house to pick up my passport, and a letter saying it's okay for me to leave the country in case they bother to ask down at the airport." Hermione explained as everyone nodded.

**CRACK!**

"Hey mum!" Ginny said happily as Mrs. Weasley apparated into the room.

"George, Fred, pack your bags, and hurry. Dumbledore's already got the plane tickets. Here's yours Hermione, I'm afraid we weren't able to get you a seat by Ginny and Ron. Fred and George, here are yours. And Ginny, Ron, might as well give you yours too, might get separated for all we know." Mrs. Weasley said as she handed everyone their tickets.

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up already! Get packing!" Mrs. Weasley said as the five kids all hurried off to help Fred and George pack.

"Oh yes, Remus, here's your ticket." Molly Weasley said cheerfully as she handed the former defence against the dark arts teacher his plane ticket.

"Why thank you Molly, I was planning on apparating there, but the paper work at the ministry would have been too much for me. Thank you!" Remus said happily as Mrs. Weasley smiled.

"It's Dumbledore—he got it, thank him, not me."

= = = = = =

**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**

"It's jewellery! I told you already, look at it okay? It's _all_ in there!" Harry said as the guard pulled him over to the side.

"Why is it all in one bag?" he asked as Harry groaned.

"Because, if it's all separate, I'll have to take it out of my bag, and show it to you, and then all this other stuff. It's just easier if I do it." Harry explained.

"Why don't you just wear it then?"

"Because it'll be too much trouble to have to take it off! I'm putting it on when I'm on the plane!"

"I see. Now, are you with a guardian while you're on this trip to China?" the guard asked as Christine approached them.

"Yes, I'm his cousin, Christine Parkers. I'm eighteen years old this year." Christine explained as she handed her passport over to the guard who looked at it.

"You're from America. This kid here lives in England." The guard pointed out.

"It's called long distance cousins! I haven't seen Christine in years! That's why my aunt and uncle decided I should go on this trip!" Harry said as the guard frowned.

"Aunt and Uncle?"

"Yes, my—my parent's died when I was a year old in a car accident." Harry's voice suddenly became raspy, and he looked like he was about to cry.

"Oh... well, um... here's your passport. You can go on." The guard said awkwardly as he handed Christine both her and Harry's passports.

The two teenagers both walked away slowly, the expression on Harry's face stayed there until they were no longer in view of the guard.

"That was brilliant!" Christine commented as Harry grinned.

"Second class seats, B wing, that's to your left when you get onto the plane." A lady said as she checked their plane tickets.

Once Harry arrived onto the plane, he went to the washroom and changed into some different clothing.

Black, black, and more black. He quickly spiked his hair up, and placed all of his jewellery on. He even swapped his shoes. Placing on color eye contacts, and stuffing all of his other belongings it his backpack, Harry walked out of the bathroom, and sat down at the seat beside Christine.

At that time, many people were beginning to arrive, and Harry suddenly noticed a flash of red hair enter the plane.

"Um... Christine, think you can change into something less... you? Some people just got on the plane, and they might recognize you." Harry whispered as Christine nodded, grabbed her backpack full of clothes and god knows what, and headed towards the nearest washroom, just before the Weasleys looked over in their direction.

_'Just my luck!'_ Harry thought as Hermione sat down at the seat right next to him.

Now he was stuck in between Christine and Hermione—two of the smartest girls he knew.

_ 'It's going to be a long flight.'_ Harry thought as he watched Christine return.

She was now wearing yellow sweat pants, and a yellow trainer that had the words 'ROOTS' written upon it, a brand of her hair had been dyed blue, her hair was now in a ponytail, she wore a pair of glasses, and Harry saw that she had also placed some make up on.

"Hey Lisa." He said suddenly as Christine sat down at her seat to the right of him.

"Hey." Christine smiled innocently, and her eyes darted over to Hermione, and Harry swore he saw a look of fear flash through.

"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione said as she held her hand out to Christine, who shook it promptly.

"I'm Lisa, and this is my..."

"Brother, Aaron Harrison." Harry replied with a warm smile that caused Hermione to blush.

_'I can't believe I'm doing this'_ Harry thought as he shook Hermione's hand.

"So, is this your first time going to China?" Hermione asked as both 'Lisa' and 'Aaron' nodded.

"Same, but I'm actually going because we'll looking for a friend—"

"Shh... Hermione! Don't tell the muggles too much!" Ron's voice hissed from the seat in front of Harry's.

"What?" Harry said as he got up and looked over the seat. He nearly fainted at the sight.

_'Remus? Ginny? Ron?'_

"Excuse him, he's been watching too many movies." Hermione said sweetly as Harry nodded slowly.

"You two siblings?" he asked as he altered his voice slightly, so it didn't sound so... him.

"Yeah, my two other brothers are also here though." Ron explained as Harry noticed the Weasley twins, who were sitting right across from them.

"Hello there, I'm Fred!" one of them said.

"And I'm George. Don't worry if you get us mixed up, everyone does!"

"I see." Harry said with a small smile as he sat Mr. Weasley sit down at the seat across from Hermione along with Mrs. Weasley.

"Wow, amazing thing muggles can invent. Absolutely amazing!" Mr. Weasley said as he opened the small table that was inserted in the seat in front of his and looked at it in delight.

"He's never been on a plane before." Hermione explained as a look of awkwardness appeared onto her face, she was quite worried.

Mr. Weasley was now opening and re-opening the table.

_'It's going to be a long flight.'_ Harry thought as he opened his backpack and pulled a CD player out.

_'At least I've got something to do—I'll have to thank Christine for talking me into buying one of these.'_ Harry thought as he placed a _'Blink 182'_ CD into the CD player, and placed the microphones on.

_'Yup, it was going to be a long flight...'_ Harry thought again as he noticed Mr. Weasley was now playing around with the seatbelt.

_'A very long flight.'_

**A/N**: _Hope you liked that chapter. Sorry if things were jumping around too quickly there... I'm kinda writing this at two in the morning anyways, **PLEASE REVIEW!**_


	4. Word Gets Out

**Title: **Harry Potter and the Darkness of Life

****

**Chapter: **(4) Word Gets Out

****

**Author: **Laen

****

**Summary:** After Sirius' death, Harry's completely lost his will to live, so he decides to make an attempt to escape the Wizarding world. What happens when he becomes friends with a muggle, and travels to China? Will Hogwarts ever be the same after Harry comes back? Read to find out!

****

**Disclaimer: **Harry Potter isn't mine! Neither are Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and definitely the country China! But '_Christine Parkers_' is my own character. Don't sue!

****

**Rated:** At this moment? Probably PG, but later on in the chapter, it might change to PG13 or maybe even 14A, depending on how grim the 'murders' and 'deaths' of the death eaters are... cough, cough.

= = = = = =

**_The Boy Who Live! Missing In Action!_****__**

******__**

****On the 5th of July, Ministry Aurors were called to a scene of underage misuse of magic at an arcade in the Mountain Mall at 2:56PM exact in the afternoon. It was there, that the Ministry found that that the killing curse had been used earlier by an underage wizard.

What shocked them the most, was that fifteen-turning-sixteen year old Harry James Potter was the wizard that had performed the curse.

According to fifteen year old muggleborn Hermione Granger, Mr. Potter was in the process of playing some sort of muggle game when he performed the killing curse. What surprised the Ministry more was that Mr. Potter wasn't holding his wand at the moment he preformed the curse, and was using Wandless magic.

Miss Granger had also pointed out that the images Mr. Potter saw in the game before performing the curse resembled Death Eaters and one of them, even _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named._

When an argument broke out between the Aurors, the secretary of Minister Fudge, Percy Weasley stepped into action. Causing everyone to shut up. It was then did the young secretary get himself into a fight with his two younger siblings, Fred and George Weasley, the two proud owners of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

The twins then proceeded to explain to the Aurors what they thought about the Minister. Their exact words were: _"Even when stupid gits like Fudge went around saying he (Harry Potter) was crazy, that he and Dumbledore were mad, that Voldemort wasn't back¡Xhe continued to fight. He continued by teaching us how to defend ourselves. He fought through the DA."___

__

Then, though careful interviewing, this reporter was able to find out that the 'D.A.' is short for the 'Defence Association'. A club that Mr. Potter and his friends Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley decided to create last year due to the fact that they had a poor uneducated teacher¡Xmore like spy, as some students would say¡Xteaching them.

Before this reporter had a chance to approach the five wizards and witches that were at the scene, retired Auror Moody¡Xno one knows why he was there to begin with¡Xtook them aside, gave them an unauthorized portkey, and sent them off to 'Head Quarters'.

The five wizards and witches¡XHermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Fred Weasley and George Weasley were all temporarily missing when this reporter went searching for them in need of an interview.

For more detail on Mr. Potter's disappearance, go to page 2.

For more detail on the damage Mr. Potter had done in the arcade in the muggle area, go to page 3.

For more detail on all underage magic Mr. Potter has done in the past few years, go to page 4.

For details about Mr. Potter's five wonderful and exciting years at Hogwarts, go to page 57.

For the story of the boy who lived, go to page 811.

Any extra detail not included should be found on page 12 and 13.

If you wish to find out the list of girls who Mr. Potter's had interest in for the last few years, turn to page 14.

= = = = = =

"Great Merlin¡Xshe's gone too far." Hermione whispered as she flipped through the pages of the article dedicated to Harry James Potter.

"Apparently she registered her animagus form." Mr. Weasley explained as Hermione read the final page of the article.

"I think I'm going to be sick... I've all of a sudden got this really bad headache... Did you read what she wrote on the last page? The list of girls Harry's been interested in for the last few years? Half the girls are Slytherins. I'm going to throw up now." Hermione said as she unclipped her seatbelt, and got up to go to the washroom.

After a few seconds of silence, Harry slowly opened his eyes, and looked around. Christine was now sleeping, and the rest of the Weasleys were all watching the movie that they were currently showing: "The Medallion".

He picked up the article of the Daily Prophet that Hermione had left on her seat and look through it quickly.

**List of _girls_ Mr. Potter's had interest in for the last few years:******

****

Hermione Granger

_'Impossible_' Harry thought to himself.

Ginny Weasley

_"Maybe a slight chance'___

Lavender Brown

'_Um... no.'___

Parvati Patil

'_Double no. After the Yule Ball, I'm sure I stayed away from her.'___

__

Katie Bell

'_She's nice, but not my type.'___

Angelina Johnson

'_The Weasley twins would kill me, which one of them dated her again?'___

Alicia Spinnet

_'I think Fred asked her out to the ball in our fourth year¡Xnot so sure, anyways, the Weasleys would kill me.'___

Hannah Abbott

'_Who is she? Oh yes... wait... who is she?'___

Susan Bones

'_Didn't her aunt get me out of Azkaban last summer?'___

Mandy Brocklehurst

'_Don't think I've seen her around before.'___

__

Millicent Bulstrode

'_I never talk to her.'___

Pansy Parkinson

'_Ewww... nightmares for months."___

Draco Malfoy

"**Dear God, that is just wrong**!" Harry shouted out loud in disgust.

"What?" Harry looked up, Ron was now staring at him, and so was everyone else on the plane.

"Nothing." Harry muttered as he dropped the Daily Prophet back onto Hermione's seat and placed his earphones back on, but before he could, he felt the tip of a wand at his forehead.

Hermione was back.

"You shouldn't touch things that don't belong to you." She hissed as she sat down on her seat, looking around to make sure no muggles were watching.

"You shouldn't walk around pointing sticks at people." Harry said as he pushed her wand away.

"Why'd you make an outburst like that?" Christine asked.

She had woken up.

"I was just reading that magazine she had, I was bored... and the last page¡Xhad a list of names of girls some guy had interest in. And one of the names grossed me out." Harry said as a look of disgust appeared onto his face.

_'I'll never have a good night's sleep.'_

"What name?" the Weasleys asked as Harry looked up at them.

"Draco Malfoy." Harry managed to spit out before turning a bit green.

"Dear lord, I understand why you're grossed out¡Xbut it's funny in a sick way¡XRita Skitter thinks Malfoy's a girl!" Ron noted as the Weasleys all laughed quietly.

"You can see this?" Hermione asked as she held the article up.

"Yea... some crack nut news article written by kids at a high school right?" Harry asked as Hermione frowned slightly.

"It looks almost real. How long did you guys spend on making it? No offence, but dedicating one whole newspaper to this 'boy who lived' is... rather strange." Harry said as he gave Hermione a look.

"Do you believe in magic?" Hermione asked suddenly as Harry tried his best not to look shocked.

"Yup! I can do this really cool magic trick with my cards¡Xhang on, I'll grab them, and then I can show you." Harry said as he grabbed his backpack and got ready to open it.

"No, it's okay. I was just wondering." Hermione muttered as she sighed.

Harry nodded, then turned to talk to Christine.

"Now _that_ was close." He whispered as she nodded slowly.

Before Christine could reply, Harry saw a shadow appeared above them.

"Yes?" Harry asked as he looked up.

Remus was staring at them with a look of confusion.

"What did you say your name was again?" he asked.

"Ha¡XAaron Harrison. Why?" Harry caught himself before he replied with his real name.

"No... No reason." Remus mumbled as he sat back down.

A few minutes later, a flight attendant pushing a cart walked by, handing dinner out to everyone. When she arrived at Harry's row, she looked though her list quickly.

"Beef and chicken dinner for Mr. Harry¡X"

"Son. Aaron Harrison." Harry cut in as he winked quickly at the flight attendant.

Hermione caught the wink, but acted as though she didn't. The flight attendant merely nodded, and handed him the food.

'_Something smells fishy.'_ Hermione thought as she opened her own dinner, and began eating it.

= = = = = =

"Hey James, you did pretty well covering up your tracks back there. I nearly believed your act." Christine grinned as she got into the taxi.

"Thanks. I'm a bit surprised it worked though." Harry mumbled as he got in after her.

"Ni yao tue na li?" the Asian driver asked as he looked back at Christine and Harry. (Translation: _Where do you want to go?)_

"Here!" Christine said as she handed the driver a sheet of paper.

"Hao, cha bu doa shee fien jon jo dao." The driver replied as he pulled out of the parking spot, and onto the road. (_Ok, we should be there in about ten minutes.)___

"Where are we going?" Harry asked as he looked around for a seatbelt.

There was none.

"To my friend's house. That's where we'll be staying for the rest of the summer. You can get him to teach you some Chinese. I won't tell you his name until we get there though."

"I see. How old is he though?" Harry questioned.

"Twenty. He was down at my school for a year teaching Chinese. A bit young huh?"

Harry nodded.

"He's a genius though. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have passed history class." Christine muttered as Harry laughed.

"I can't wait to meet him then."

= = = = = =

"That Aaron fellow was strange. I thought you said muggles who didn't know about us couldn't see the Daily Prophet Professor Lupin." Ron half asked, half stated as they walked out of the airport.

"Don't call me Professor Lupin. Just call me Remus. Anyways, even if they knew about us, they shouldn't be able to see it. He must've been a muggleborn or a half blood. Either that or a squib." The former professor explained.

"I swear I heard Harry when we were on the plane." He whispered suddenly.

Everyone froze and stared at Remus.

"Did check to see if it was Harry?" George asked.

"Yes. But it was Aaron Harrison. That reminds me... he whispered something to his sister Lisa after you lot stopped questioning him. Something about '_that was close'_." Lupin stated as Ginny frowned slightly.

"But Harry wouldn't dress like that. Aaron didn't have the scar. And his hair was brown streaked red, unlike Harry's, which is brown. It's also longer too." Ginny exclaimed as Lupin nodded.

"I know. But... I guess I was just thinking too much."

"Maybe it was a disguise... anyways, where's Moody? He said he'd meet us here and take us to the Asian Ministry of Magic to let them know we're in the country. They'll perform a charm on us there too, so you kids can understand Chinese." Mr. Weasley explained as everyone nodded.

"Hermione, you okay?" Ron asked as he poked his best friend, who had a frown on her face.

"Yeah... just thinking." Hermione whispered with a sigh.

"Hey look, it's Moody! Nice car!" Fred said as he pointed at the long white limo that had the words A.M.M. stamped on the side of it.

"Let's go." Molly Weasley said as she picked up her suitcase, and walked towards the ex-Auror.

= = = = = =

The twenty year old Chinese man sighed slightly as he removed the sword from the wall, and sliced it through the air before placing his left hand onto the handle below his right.

_'He's coming. I can feel it.'_ He thought as he got into a battle stance.

A knock was heard from the door, but the man didn't move at all.

"Hey? It's Christine! You in there?" a girl's voice asked from the other side.

He didn't reply.

"We're coming in!"

The door slowly opened, and the man watched as a girl and a young teenage boy¡Xaround the age of sixteen, walk through it.

"Hey, what's going¡X"

Before the girl could finish her question, the man sprung forward and sliced his sword at them.

"Look out Christine!" the teenage boy beside her shouted as he pushed her away.

The blade of the sword sliced through the air, but it suddenly froze as the man watched the boy raise his hands and stop the sword in midair, only inches away from his own head.

The man stared into the eyes of the young teenager, and saw confusion, shock, and anger. But no fear.

"What in the world is wrong with you? Why'd you attack James like that?" Christine asked as she approached them slowly.

"You're the one." The man whispered as he looked at the boy¡XJames.

"Back off. Now." Harry commanded as the man took a few steps back, and placed the sword onto a nearby table.

"Why'd you attack us?" Christine asked.

"I had to make sure¡Xyou, James¡Xwhat's your last name?" the man asked.

"That's none of your business. And call me Aaron Harrison if you ever see me dressed like this." James¡Xor was it Aaron said as the man nodded.

"May I have the honour of knowing your full name? Chosen one?" the man questioned as the boy frowned.

"Harry James Potter. But like I said earlier, if you ever see me dressed like this, call me Aaron. It's my alias." Harry explained as the man nodded.

"Who're you?" he asked as a grin appeared onto the man's face.

"Daemion Qin, swords master. Also the last heir of Emperor Qin from the Qin dynasty."

"Royalty? You come from a line of powerful rulers." Harry commented as Daemion nodded.

"I do have a few questions though. What should I call you when you're not dressed like this? If you looked completely different from what you are now?"

"James. James Potter. Don't call me by Harry, that's my past, and I'd much rather not remember my past." Harry decided as Daemion nodded.

"How long are you going to be here for?"

"Until the end of summer." Harry replied.

"Do you wish to learn the art of martial arts and sword fighting?"

"Why are you offering to teach him? When Allen asked you refused." Christine cut in as she stared at Daemion.

"Who's Allen?" Harry asked as he looked over at Christine.

"A friend of mine from high school. Well, care to answer my question, Daemion?" Christine asked again.

"Aaron here has the gift. He's the chosen one." Daemion stated as Christine frowned.

"Aaron, like I asked earlier¡Xdo you wish to learn the art of martial arts, and sword fighting among other things?" Daemion repeated.

"Absolutely, that'd be great."

"I see¡XI've just got one last question."

"And that would be?"

"What's a wizard like you doing out here in China?"

= = = = = =

Screams and shouts could be heard throughout the room as Voldemort placed the Death Eaters under the Cruciatus curse one by one.

"Idiots! All of you! How could you let him escape! Severus! Has that old fool told you where Potter has escaped to yet?" Voldemort cried out as Severus Snape approached the Dark Lord.

"Not yet, my lord. But apparently, the Weasley family decided to make a trip down to China with the werewolf and that mudblood Granger. I think that's where the boy has run off to." Snape stated as he looked downwards towards the floor.

"Wonderful work Severus, you will be greatly awarded. But first¡Xyou will bring me the boy. Lucius! Wormtail! Avery! Bellatrix! Macnair! You will go with him! Fail me not. Or suffer the consequences." Tom Riddle sneered as the following Death Eaters all bowed and muttered yes.

"Now, leave! Search all of Asia if you must! Bring him back!"

= = = = = =

"Headmaster¡XI have told you-know-who where Potter is. He has now sent a few Death Eaters to accompany me in Potter's search. Where should I start off? Somewhere far off? Away from their location?" Snape asked as he looked at the tired face of Albus Dumbledore.

"I see¡Xwell, you can start off here." Dumbledore explained as he handed Severus a map of a town in China.

"You are apparating there, am I not right?" Dumbledore asked as Snape nodded.

"I see. When are you leaving?"

"July 9th, Friday evening. I believe, after the time zone changes, it should be sometime near midnight there." The potions master replied.

"I see. Well, I can only bid you good luck. Do return before the beginning of this year. And Severus¡Xreturn alive please." Dumbledore added as Snape gave him a faint sad smile.

= = = = = =

_Thursday, July 8th, 2004-7:00 AM___

"Slash it downwards, come on¡Xno! You're holding the sword wrong!" Daemion snapped as he corrected Harry's mistake.

"Now try it again, yes, that's it, again. Keep doing that for the next ten minutes until you have perfected it." Daemion said as Harry continued to bring the sword above his head, then slice it downwards, over and over again.

"What is he doing?" Christine asked as Daemion sat down across from her at the table and took a sip of his tea.

"A simple exercise, it'll get him used to the weight of the sword, might tire his muscles a bit, but if he's tried after this, he might as well quit. The actual lesson is much rougher. I'm afraid you can't watch though." Daemion said with a look of apology as Christine waved it off.

"It's okay. I heard there was a new theme park nearby. I'll just go there for a while and hang out." Christine grinned as Daemion laughed.

"How did you know he was a wizard?" Christine asked as she looked over at Harry, who seemed to be getting the hang of handling a sword better.

"I felt his magic within him. It's different from other wizards. Completely different. It's purer¡Xand stronger." Daemion explained as he too, looked over at Harry.

The fifteen year old boy was now wearing a white pair of sweat pants and a loose white t-shirt. He was wearing his silver glasses now, and his hair was no longer spiked, plus, his scar was visible.

"What do you mean, stronger? Purer?" Christine frowned in confusion.

"He doesn't have a wand does he?" Daemion asked as he took another sip of his tea.

"No¡Xhe snapped it apparently. That's what he told me a few days ago." Christine replied as Daemion nodded.

"No wonder... he must've absorbed his magic. But even if he did, that wouldn't explain how he's so strong¡Xhe'd be powerful even if he hadn't absorbed his magic. It's the first time I've ever seen this in my life." Daemion stated as Christine's jaw fell.

"What do you mean? Absorbed his magic?"

"When he broke his wand, he must have absorbed the magic it contained. Hey Potter! The magical creature that the wand maker used in it¡Xwhat was it?" Daemion called over to Harry, who continued to slice the sword through the air.

"A phoenix¡Xnamed Fawkes." Harry answered as he gasped for air.

"How long has it been?" Harry asked as Daemion looked at his clock.

It was only 7:04.

"You've got another six minutes left, keep going at it. You can do something else other then slicing it down in one direction. Try new things." Daemion suggested as Harry immediately changed the angle he was holding the sword at.

He swung the sword around with his left hand twice, then threw the sword over to his left hand, and tried to perform a difficult swords move he had seen actors do in TV shows Dudley watched.

"Where'd you learn that?" Daemion asked as he leaped to his feet in shock.

"I saw it off TV¡XI just thought I'd try it." Harry said as he froze in his actions.

"What are you doing? Keep going! I want to see if you got the technique right. Have you ever used a sword before?" Daemion questioned as Harry nodded slightly.

"Once, when I was in my second year. But only for about ten minutes, and that was to kill a huge snake down in the¡X"

"Yes, I heard about that. Now keep going. I need to make sure..." Daemion never finished his sentence, as he was now watching Harry's every move.

Christine rolled her eyes, and left the room to go to the theme park, muttering the words _'Boys will be boys'_ under her breath.

= = = = = =

Hermione groaned as she walked past a group of Asians, trying to find Harry. Fred and George suggested the theme park, since they thought Harry would be here in China to have fun.

"'Mione! Wait up!" Ron shouted as he finally caught up to her, gasping for air.

Ginny was next to him, face red from running, and panting. Remus followed, but he didn't look tired at all.

"How come you're not gasping for air?" Ron asked as Lupin smiled faintly.

"That's the advantage with being a werewolf." He whispered as Ron nodded slightly.

"Hey look! I think that's Christine! She's wearing tons of pink! Remember Ron? Harry made a comment about her clothes a few days back when we were watching the map!" Ginny shouted as she pointed up ahead.

Hermione, Ron, and Remus all looked towards the direction Ginny was pointing towards, and realized that she was right. It was Christine!

"Christine! Oy! Christine!" Ron shouted as she ran forward.

"Ron no! She'll know we've seen her!" Hermione stated, but it was too late.

Christine had turned around, and saw them running towards her.

"Shit!" she swore angrily as she ran towards a short line for a new rollercoaster ride.

She got in line just before a crowd of Asians, and gasped for air as she turned around to see if they had followed her. They had.

"Christine! Where's Harry! Tell us! Please!" Remus shouted over the crowd, but Christine ignored him.

When it finally got to her turn, Christine sat at the very front by herself. What caused her to groan was that Ron and Hermione sat right behind her. Ginny and Remus followed.

"Where is Harry?" Ron asked angrily as Christine pulled the handle that held her in seat over her head, and the one that went over her legs.

"Tell us!" Hermione said as she and Ron did the same.

"Please, we're really worried about him!" Ginny said as Remus locked the handles in.

"I'm not saying a thing to you! Stop following me!" Christine cried out as the ride began to start.

"Excuse me! How long is this ride?" Remus quickly asked a nearby worker in Chinese.

"About two minutes long. Have fun with the corkscrews. There's loads."

Before Remus had a chance to ask what the man meant by that, the coaster went upwards.

"Dear god, what ride are we on?" Ron asked as he looked around in fear.

"I think it's the corkscrew... oh dear Merlin... ahhh!" Hermione screamed as the rollercoaster suddenly went straight downwards at a thirty degree angle.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" Ron shouted as they went back up, then straight down once more.

"Corkscrew's coming up! This ride is the best!" Christine stated excitedly as the ride suddenly went around in two 360 degree circles in a roll.

"Whoohoo!" Christine yelled over all the screaming when the coaster began to climb upwards again.

The coaster went downwards, and suddenly swerved towards the left, Ginny and Hermione screamed as they shook from left to right, but Ron kept his mouth shut afraid of what could come out of it if he opened it, and Remus had a look of excitement on his face.

The rollercoaster went through a few more corkscrews, and at last, it was over. Staggering from left to right, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny finally managed to get out of the carts.

Ginny needed Remus' help though, since she looked green with sickness.

"Where's Harry?" Ron managed to ask before he turned towards a garbage can and threw up inside it.

"I told you, I can't tell you. Stop asking! I'm going. And don't follow me. Unless you can handle the rides." Christine stated as she pointed at Ron, who continued to throw up, and Ginny who had just joined him at the garbage can next to it.

"I see you can handle it. You don't look like you're that sick." Christine smiled at Hermione who gave her a weak smile back.

"Remus¡Xcan you do me a favour?" she asked as her former professor nodded.

"What?"

"Place a non-sickness charm on me. I'll take the challenge she's made on the rides." Hermione grinned as she looked over at Ron and Ginny.

"Better place them onto Ron and Ginny too."

Remus did as he was told, but checked twice to make sure there weren't any muggles nearby before he did so (they had all ran off because of the stench of Ron and Ginny's hurl).

"Now all I can say is this Christine, think you can handle it?" Hermione was practically daring her to go on the scariest and longest rides ever.

"Of course, why shouldn't I be able to?" Christine smirked.

Ron and Ginny looked at each other for a moment, before groaning in complaint.

**A/N**_: Please **REVIEW!**_**__**


	5. Rescuing Her

**Harry Potter and the Darkness of Life-Chapter 5, Rescuing Her**

"Get up." Daemion Qin hissed as Harry James Potter struggled to get to his feet.

"It's not even noon yet, and already, you're half dead." Daemion stated as Harry frowned at him.

"Didn't expect the lesson to be this hard huh?" Daemion asked as Harry looked down, and slowly, shook his head.

"There's something you've got to understand _Harry Potter_," Daemion muttered under his breath as Harry's head snapped up, and their eyes met.

"I told you not to call me that." Harry whispered as Daemion stared back at him with a dark look on his face.

"As I was saying," after a moment of silence, Daemion finally spoke, "there's something you've got to understand... several people may see you as the boy-who-lived, others may see you as a weapon."

"_A weapon?"_ Harry looked confused now.

"Yes, A weapon. Although it may not seem possible, Dumbledore is one of those people who look at you from that perspective." Daemion said as Harry's shoulders fell.

"I sort of guessed he'd be one of them." Harry sighed sadly.

"That's not my point Potter. You don't get what I'm trying to tell you. Although there are people who think that way about you, there are also others. Those who look up to you, and care about you very much. Those that can't afford to lose you as their friend. For them, you've got to push yourself and try harder. You can't give up."

"I didn't say I was giving up!" Harry snapped as he glared at his current mentor.

"Good. That was the response I hoped I would receive. Now get up. And fight me with both honor and dignity Potter. Forget about your pride. Just fight, and don't worry about losing." Daemion said as Harry got to his feet.

Daemion handed him the wooden stick they were now using for practice, and the two of them got into their own little stance.

"Begin." Daemion whispered as Harry immediately brought his stick down towards him.

Daemion blocked each attack Harry threw at him with ease, and could see determination in the eyes of the young wizard.

_-Crack-_

_-Swish-_

_-Crack-_

Daemion spun around, blocked another hit, before falling towards the ground, and tripping Harry. The fifteen year old fell to ground once again. Harry tried to get up, but Daemion forced him to stay down.

"Do you know why you lost that match?"

"I'm a beginner and you've been going at it since you were young?" Harry guessed as Daemion gave him a look of amusement.

"Yes, also because you failed to analyze the fight. You need to watch the opponent's every move and attack, so you can be one step ahead of him, but you can't do that when you're throwing everything you've got at him all at once."

Harry nodded to show that he understood. Daemion was about to say something else, when suddenly a dark and worried expression overcame his face. As if he had just realized he left the stove on or had left his car unlocked in the middle of a mall parking lot.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"Trouble." Daemion paused, then looked down at Harry.

"You lost the fight, now it's time for the battle. Get dressed now. We're meeting your little friends." Daemion said as he placed his wooden sword on a nearby table, and walked towards the exit of the training room.

"What? What do I wear?" Harry asked as he looked down at himself.

"Choose a color." Daemion said said as Harry frowned slightly.

"Um... black?"

Daemion waved his hand, and the once sweat stained clothes Harry was wearing changed slightly. Everything he had been wearing earlier had been turned black, and his clothes were no longer stained with sweat.

"Whoa!" Harry gasped as Daemion frowned at him.

"Let's go already."

Harry snapped out of shock, and followed the warrior out of the room immediately. Minutes later, they were speeding towards the amusement park in search of Christine.

_Meanwhile..._

"Christine? Christine?" Ron shouted loudly as he looked around his surroundings.

"Where could she be?" Ron asked as Hermione frowned at him.

"Ron, we're in the house of mirrors. You do realize this is the worst place we could've chased her into?" Hermione half stated, half asked as Ron shrugged.

"Look! There she is!" Ginny cried out suddenly as she pointed to the left.

Indeed, Christine stood there staring at them in shock.

"We've got you now!" Ron shouted as he ran forward.

"Ron no!" Hermione and Remus Lupin both yelled, but Ron wouldn't listen.

**SLAM!**

"Owww! What's a mirror doing here?" Ron asked as he grabbed his nose in pain.

"Ron, how thick can you get?" Ginny asked in barely a whisper as she turned around, and saw the real Christine standing a few feet away from her.

"Come on Hermione!" Ginny said as the two of them hurried after her.

"Hurry up there Ron." Remus said as he helped Ron to his feet.

The two wizards chased after the girls immediately after Remus checked Ron's nose wasn't broken.

Up ahead, Christine had safety made it out of the house of mirrors, and had made her way into the crowd of people. She noticed that there seemed a lot of people crowded around the concussion stands, so she hurried off towards that direction, and dodged around people, trying to hide herself.

She somehow made it to the front of the line in less then a few minutes, and realizing that she was rather hungry and tired, she decided to buy something to eat.

"Coke. Co-ke. One coke." She said slowly as she held up a finger to show how many she wanted.

"Ah. Ok. One min-ute po-li-ce." The cashier said in poor english as Christine rolled her eyes.

'_He must've meant please.'_ Christine thought to herself.

A few seconds later, Christine handed fifty dollars over (around $2 dollars US/Canadian Currency), and began to walk away enjoying her coke.

She had almost forgotten that she was being chased by wizards and witches, until she suddenly heard another familiar cry from behind her.

"There she is!"

It was the red-head boy.

'_What an idiot!' _Christine thought to herself as she began to run once again.

Apparently, one of the girls chasing after her thought the exact same thing.

"Ron, you're not supposed to yell that out when you're trying to sneak up on someone!"

Christine continued to run, until she reached the parking lot by the amusement park.

'_There's never a taxi around when you need one huh?'_ Christine sighed as she looked around frantically.

"Stop where you are!"

"Ron, that is the gayest line ever!"

"Shut up Ginny!"

Christine ignored the side-conversation the two red-heads were having as she turned around and faced the group of people.

"Listen, I can't tell you where James is." Christine said as Ginny Weasley pulled her wand out.

"Ginny no!" the girl with the brown hair was trying to get her to put the wand away now.

"Hermione, let go! We need to find Harry!" Ginny snapped as Christine continued to inch away slowly.

"Don't let her get away!" Ron yelled as he too, pulled his wand out and approached her.

Just when Christine thought all hope was gone, a loud screeching sound was heard from the other side of the parking lot. It was the sound of a car making a sharp turn.

"Daemion!" Christine shouted when she recognized the black sports car her friend favored so.

The car screeched to a stop in front of her, and Harry looked up at her before shouting: "Get in already!"

Christine hurried in, but by the time she had gotten into the car, it was too late, the four witches and wizards had surrounded the car already.

"Harry! Come out!" Remus Lupin shouted as Harry looked over at Daemion who frowned slightly.

"Do as they say, but when you're talking to them, make sure their wands are lowered, and your hand is making contact with the car." Daemion instructed.

"The car?" Harry asked in confusion.

"I'm transforming it to a portkey." Daemion whispered as Harry nodded, then got out of the car.

"Harry, is that you?" Hermione asked in shock as Harry nodded.

"What do you want?" Harry asked as everyone stared at him in disbelief.

"Harry, we want you to come back with us." Remus said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What if I don't want to?" Harry questioned.

Once again, jaws dropped in shock.

"But... why?" Ginny asked as Harry sighed.

"I need a break from my life."

"What's wrong with your life?" Ron asked stupidly.

Now everyone was staring at him as if he was insane.

"Other then the fact that Voldemort—" a few people flinched, Harry noticed Hermione was one who didn't, "—is trying to kill me."

"But Harry, we can protect you!" Remus stated.

"Yeah, just like how you protected me when I was nearly ran over in London by cars after I fainted." Harry said harshly.

"Harry—" Remus began, but Harry cut in.

"Listen Remus, this isn't about me anymore. It's about Voldemort. He'll kill whoever stands in his way to power, and right now, I'm the one in his way. I need to train to be stronger, but I can't when I've got order members watching my back all the time. With failure comes the chance to improve." Harry said as Ron looked at him blankly.

"Look mate, I don't understand a word you're saying—"

"That doesn't matter Ron."

"—and as much as I... wait a minute, what you meant that doesn't matter?" Ron suddenly had an angry expression on his face.

"I've got to go." Harry said as he looked at Daemion, who nodded.

"But Harry!" Ginny and Hermione both cried out as once, but Harry looked away.

"5—" Daemion began to countdown.

"No!" Hermione had ran forward and grabbed Harry by the arm.

"—4—"

"I'm sorry!" Harry had shoved Hermione away, making sure she was nowhere near them when the portkey was activated.

"—3—"

"Harry, don't!" Hermione and gotten up and was running towards him again.

"—2—"

Hermione had grabbed Harry once again.

"Get off!" Harry pushed her away once more.

"—1—"

"Tracartio!" Remus hissed as a spell was shot towards Harry.

"—0—"

The spell hit Harry just before they disappeared, and Hermione got to her feet with tears streaming down her face.

"I can't believe he just left like that..." Hermione sobbed as Ginny, Ron, and remus ran over to her.

"It's okay. It's going to be okay. I managed to get a tracing charm on him before he left. He's in..." Remus waved his wand again, and muttered a spell under his breath before speaking once more.

"_Beijing."_

**A/N**: Hey guys... I FINALLY updated this story... sorry for taking sooooo long... I don't really have a good reason for not updating other then laziness... anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I promise to update soon!


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